The Nazi Party gained power for many reasons. After WW1 Germany was left with huge reparation debts, which heavily burdened the German economy. The country lost all colonies as well as territory to neighbouring countries. The infamous Treaty of Versailles further upset Germans with a clause, which stated that Germany was solely responsible for causing WW1. Thus hatred of the Treaty of Versailles resulted in hatred of the first German democratic Weimar Republic, which signed the treaty. Germans had little experience and interest in a republic, but they felt a passionate desire to pay the Allies back and make Germany the “greatest nation” in the world again. As Hitler was such a passionate speaker many Germans enthusiastically believed in many things he said and promised them. Another reason that helped the Nazis gained power was that after WW1 the Communists violently attempted to overthrow the government. Many people since then feared a communist takeover. Thus for the moderate German the Nazi Party only proved to be strong enough to prevent a communist capture of the country.
Totalitarianism is government control over all aspects of a particular country and a person’s life. A totalitarian state is usually led by a dictator, which is “above” the law and has the power over life and death. In such a state common good is placed over individual good, opponents are ruthlessly prosecuted and the armies as well as the police forces serve as political weapons. The Nazi regime in Germany was a totalitarian one, because its government leaders showed no mercy toward potential opponents as this speech from Herman Goring displays:
“ Police officers who use weapons in carrying out their duties will be covered by me. Whoever misguidedly fails in this duty can expect disciplinary action. Every bullet, which leaves the barrel of a police pistol, now is my bullet. If one calls this murder, then I have murdered. I ordered this. I back it up. I assume responsibility, and I am not afraid to do so. I don’t have to worry about justice. My mission is only to destroy & exterminate, nothing more! “ (Middleton, D. 1987)
Hitler also stated what would happen to opponents of the regime.
“The German people have been soft too long. Every communist official must be shot. All communist deputies must be hanged this very night. All friends of the Communists must be locked up and that goes for the Social Democrats and the Reichsbanner as well!” (Luedecke, K. I Knew Hitler)
After gaining power on 30th January 1933, the Nazi regime set up an auxiliary police force of 50 000 SA & SS men, which ruthlessly raided Communist offices, arresting, torturing and killing many of them. The Nazis then went on to burn the Reichstag on 28th February, blaming the communists for it. As a result of this the Nazis were able to strengthen their power, apparently only temporary, by passing the Enabling Act, which by law made all other parties illegal. Germans even voted to have their rights taken away with the Emergency decree. The SA, SS and Gestapo were now able to legally arrest and torture people, they thought were enemies of the state. Daily state propaganda was skillfully spread throughout Germany with the newspaper, the Volkischer Beobachter (appendix), which manipulated people’s thoughts and opinions. Listening or reading news from foreign sources was not allowed. An atmosphere of fear, repression and violence was created. People were afraid to criticize Nazism, as it was entirely possible for anybody, even high Nazi officials, to be arrested, interrogated & sent to a concentration camp for execution without any outside legal procedure.
The Nazis made their nationalistic policies public as early as 1920. They sought the reunion of all German people, purification of the German race, taking over of the German economy and abolishment of the Treaty of Versailles. Nazis wanted to rid Germany of Marxism and Jewish influence. They also encouraged the development of small businesses. Thus Nazi ambitions were more or less clear before they took control of Germany. However nobody believed that the Nazis would be able to make their anti-Jewish policies reality and when they did it was too late to stop them.
On 2nd August Adolf Hitler became the abolute Fuhrer (leader) of Germany. The Nazis promptly introduced the Gleichschaltung, a massive coordination of all aspects of life under the swastika and the leadership of Hitler.
School education was transformed into life education as the Nazis successfully tried to capture the loyalty of Germany’s youth. Kids as young as 6 were educated to believe that Hitler was “the Fuhrer sent from heaven”, who would save Germany from the Bolsheviks (Communists). Boys aged 10-14 joined the Jungvolk, whereas boys aged 14-18 were in the Hitler Youth, where they engaged in endless physical and war exercises in order to be ready for the Wehrmacht. Girls were educated to become good housewives. At school they were given deliberately more homework than boys, so that they weren’t able to do further study. Membership of these youth groups grew steadily as being outside Hitler’s girls or boy’s youth was the worst form of punishment. School textbooks were rewritten, new subjects such as the science of races were introduced (appendix) and teachers were forced to educate pupils according to Nazi ideology. (appendix) Those who did not comply were removed from teaching practice.
As soon as they took power Adolf Hitler and the Nazis started to reclaim Germany’s lost territories and defy the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription was introduced in 1935, a year later German troops marched into the demilitarized Rhineland. Under heavy protest from both England and France Hitler sent volunteers to Spain to aid a right-wing regime gain power there. The reunification with Austria took place in March 1938 and a year later Czechoslovakia was occupied. This successful policy of “aggressive diplomacy” played with German nationalistic emotions and assured Hitler even more support from the German people.
The main policy of the Nazi Party was thus to prepare Germany for full-scale war and the whole economy was reorganized accordingly. Nazis acted immediately to create jobs & re-establish prosperity. Industrial and farm production increased and by 1939 unemployment was virtually nil. As Hitler offered security to the worker’s he was able to pursue his policies without much opposition. Trade Unions were banned. Instead the Nazi Labour Front was established. It raised worker’s morale by improving work conditions and organizing excursions and cheap holidays. The so-called “Strength Through Joy” program organized many other activities such as guided tours, films and theatre and events for the Autobahn workers. The building of the autobahn (German highway) made German people proud of the Nazi regime. However the greatest symbol of the program was the Volkswagen (people’s car). It was to be so cheap that everybody could afford it. Although not many were built, because the industry was directed towards military armament production, people enthusiastically participated in Nazi Gleichschaltung and the “Strength Through Joy” program.
In order to get the German Wehrmacht on his side Adolf Hitler killed many of his original supporters. Nazi brutality was demonstrated in the infamous “Night of the Long Knives” on 30 June 1934, where SA (Nazi brownshirts) leaders were cold-bloodily murdered and SA power reduced. Ernst Roehm, the leader of the SA and Hitler’s friend and supporter since the beginning, was executed because he wanted his SA to replace the German Wehrmacht. The destruction of the SA secured Hitler support from generals of the armed forces. The German army was increased significantly and heavily armed; it became a political weapon in executing Hitler’s nationalistic policies. When Hitler became the absolute leader (Fuhrer) all soldiers in the Wehrmacht had to swore an oath of allegiance to Hitler personally:
“I swear by God this sacred oath: I will render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German Reich and people, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and will be ready as a brave soldier to risk my life at any time for this oath.” (Kopp, 1996)
Soldiers weren’t the only persons who had to swear oaths. Public officials had to swear a similar oath as well. From that point on Hitler had the economy, army and people under total control and they were ready to do anything he commanded.
Another major point in Nazi policy was the purification of the Aryan race. This specifically targeted Jews, who were seen by Nazis as parasites living off others. Nazis blamed the Jews for many things, including Germany’s loss in WW1 and the Wall Street crash. Many people knew Hitler’s anti-Jewish policy before he took power. Only after 1933 did they realize that it was to be made reality. On 1 April 1933 Jewish shops were nationally boycotted (appendix), two years later Jews lost their German citizenship. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 forbade marriages between Jews and Germans. Jews also couldn’t employ Aryan servants and fewer Jewish children were admitted to German schools. Although in actual fact Jews were really Germans, the Nuremberg Laws made them “second class” citizens. It was the beginning of Hitler’s “Final Solution”, which was to exterminate all Jews in Europe. Some Germans and church leaders publicly criticized the treatment of Jews and they were harshly dealt with. On the night of the 9 November 1938 the biggest organized anti-Jewish riots occurred (appendix). 1400 synagogues were partially or completely destroyed, Jewish homes were attacked, 30 of them were killed and many others sent to concentration camps. This became known as the Reichskristallnacht (Night of broken glass). Afterwards Jews were sued by the Nazi regime and they had to pay money to the government for damage done by government militias. (appendix)As Germany or Third Reich started to lose WW2, Hitler ordered all Jews to be transported to the extermination camp at Auschwitz (appendix). It was perhaps the only policy his fanatical regime was successful to implement. Altogether more than 6 million Jews were killed in Nazi concentration camps.
Nationalism is a belief that people from the same cultural background, who speak the same language and have the same religion, should form one nation. It is a passionate belief in the supremacy of that particular country over other countries and that people living should be strongly supportive of their nation’s interests. Nationalism is thus strong devotion and love to a particular country and its people.
Nationalism helped Adolf Hitler gain power and made it easier to implement Nazi policy. The Nazis capitalized on many Germans, believing they had not achieved their rightful place in the world, by promising to unite all German-speaking people. The Third Reich was to be the strongest country in the world. Feeling nationalistic, Germans believed that they were the supreme race, that Jews were their enemies and that Aryans had a right for more living space. “One people, one Reich, one fuhrer (appendix)” were indeed nationalistic views. Nazi policy appealed to German nationalists, because these nationalists were terribly insulted by the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler wanted to expand Germany’s borders to the east, get rid of Jews who were seen as traitors, make Germany militarily and economically strong and dedicate its people towards only one belief and goal. According to Hitler this was Germany’s destiny.
As German nationalist feelings were running high under the Nazi regime (appendix), many agreed to their policies and the harsh treatment of their opponents. Bureaucrats, industrialists, some intellectual and literary figures were campaigning out in open to support Hitler. However some Germans, including Marlene Dietrich (appendix) and even Ludendorff criticized Hitler’s regime and Nazism. There is no question that the SA & SS were able to easily recruit people, thanks to German nationalism and its effect on the population.
The Nazis were thus able to create a dreadful totalitarian regime in Germany in the middle of the 20th century, because their national as well as foreign policies appealed to German nationalism. People were directed, educated and prepared for horrifying tasks such as “the Final Solution” and the holocaust as well as WW2, because of German nationalism and Hitler’s exploitation of German emotions.
